Ireland may need the help of a leprechaun or two

(Guinness) will be flowing, make no mistake. Friday is St Patrick’s day and the celebrations will continue on Saturday,” Monks said. “And if we beat England, the barrels could run dry!” Indeed they could, but the Irish ambush will have long been anticipated by Jones. The pluck of the Irish will not be good enough on its own and Jones will be plotting to ensure the luck of the Irish is not a factor either

Jones, is just too wily a campaigner. He is a diminutive little fellow who was once a combative hooker in first grade club rugby in Sydney. He punched above his weight as a player, but boy has he delivered some knock-out punches as a coach when in charge of teams that were average but managed to outmanoeuvre more fancied opponents.

And this is long before Jones master-minded arguably sport’s greatest ever upset – that small matter of a Rugby World Cup match in Brighton between Japan and the Springboks in 2015.

Eddie has not always had it easy. He had a season in charge of a Reds team that picked up some monumental hidings. In 2007, his team was walloped 92-7 by the Bulls at Loftus.

Also that season, a reporter overheard Jones addressing his team in the change-room at Suncorp Stadium after a 50-point pasting from the Sharks and his caustic words were: “You guys are as soft as warm sh**”.

It is that hard edge and attitude that has turned England around. The Poms were laughed out of their own World Cup two years ago, but since Jones was asked to write his own cheque to get him out of his contract with the Stormers, the Red Rose have been undefeated.

He has used more or less the same players as previous coach Stuart Lancaster. The difference is that Lancaster was too much of a nice guy. The chemistry between him and the players was just not working.

Jones, brought in attitude, highlighted by his choice of captain, bad boy hooker Dylan Hartley who was notorious for foul play, including a ban for biting. Jones’ choice of captain showed that he was drawing a line in the sand ... there would be no “softies” in any England team coached by him.

Ireland are by no means incapable of beating England. Heck, they beat the All Blacks a year ago. But they may just need the help of a few leprechauns ...